The U.S. At War, The Last Stage

Prime Minister Winston Churchill heard
the news while he was having a quiet supper with U.S. Ambassador John
Gilbert Winant at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country house some
25 miles from Downing Street. Winston Churchill picked up the telephone
and called an extraordinary session of Parliament for the next
afternoon. Then he and Mr. Winant set out for London.

The British public heard the news not many minutes later in a BBC
newscast. It was no great surprise, but it left a disturbing question to sleep
on. Would the U.S. be able to keep supplies flowing to Britain, now
that she...